The present invention generally relates to a method and system for delivering products for human consumption from a manufacturing centre to passenger carrying vehicles. The present invention is particularly related to the delivery of meals for consumption by passengers in a vehicle during transit of the vehicle e.g. an aircraft or train.
On many forms of passenger carrying vehicles it is usual to serve the passengers with a meal. In passenger carrying vehicles where space is a premium e.g. trains and aeroplanes, the food is usually provided for distribution in compact units such as trolleys to allow for easy distribution of food to the passengers.
The logistics of providing food to passenger carrying vehicles to meet the vehicle schedule is complex. This distribution problem is further complicated by the need to comply strictly with hygiene regulations. Further, some food products are fragile and can easily be damaged.
The airline industry is an area where a great deal of time and effort is expended in providing passengers with high quality food. Traditional airline caterers purchase food ingredients which they cook and prepare in their kitchens. The prepared food is then placed in packaging or onto trays which are loaded into trolleys. Traditionally, the number of trolleys and the number of meals loaded into the trolleys is tailored at the point of manufacture of the food to the requirements of the aircraft to which the food is to be delivered. Thus, traditional airline caterers require food production facilities in addition to distribution facilities. Although some products may be bought from food manufacturing centres, this is generally a minor part of the total meal being prepared.
Even when food is provided to passengers in the form of a packaged food item e.g. sandwiches, traditionally, sandwiches are received from a food manufacturer in bulk packaging e.g. cardboard boxes. The food items must then be unpacked and repacked into carriers suitable for fitting into trolleys to go onto the vehicle e.g. aircraft.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a more efficient distribution system which can incorporate better tracking and controls.
In accordance with the first aspect, the present invention provides a method of delivering products for human consumption from a manufacturing centre to passenger carrying vehicles. In a manufacturing centre the products are packaged into carriers, where each carrier carries a number of products. The carriers are delivered in bulk e.g. on a palette to a distribution centre. At the distribution centre predetermined numbers of the carriers are loaded into respective containers for distribution to the vehicles. On the vehicles the products are distributed to passengers during transit.
In a preferred embodiment the containers comprise trolleys which are pushed by attendants on the vehicles whilst serving the food and thus carriers are preferably adapted to fit the trolleys.
Thus this aspect of the present invention provides a significant streamlining of the delivery system. The repackaging of the products at the distribution centre is avoided thus saving time and effort and avoiding the wastage of packaging material. In the manufacturing centre, the manufacturer is provided with carriers into which they package the products. The products are thus passed right from the manufacturer to the vehicles and are returned again to the manufacturer once used. This use of the same carriers for packaging the products from the manufacturer right away to the vehicles simplifies not only the delivery logistics, but also tracking procedures for food products as a means of monitoring compliance with hygiene regulations. Further, the avoidance of repackaging of the food products greatly reduces the risk of damage to the products.
Thus this aspect of the present invention is particularly suited to the distribution of food products which are fragile or subject to hygiene regulations.
In one embodiment the distribution centre comprises a hub distribution centre, which receives the bulk packaged carriers. Spoke distribution centres are provided and are supplied with predetermined numbers of containers by the hub distribution centre. At the spoke distribution centres the number of carriers in respective containers is adjusted in dependence upon the requirements of respective vehicles. The containers are then distributed to the respective vehicles by the spoke distribution centres. Thus in this embodiment the spoke distribution centres can be provided locally to the vehicle transit points. Because the spoke distribution centres only need carry out adjustments to the number of carriers in the containers and/or to adjust the number of containers required for respective vehicles, the spoke distribution centres can be of greatly reduced scale compared to the hub distribution centre. Thus this embodiment has the advantage that for example for the supply of aircraft meals, the airport food distribution centre can be of greatly reduced scale compared to a central hub distribution centre. This greatly reduces the cost of distribution since the cost of real estate in an airport or in the vicinity of an airport is usually much higher than the cost of real estate for a distribution centre provided remotely i.e. a remote hub distribution centre.
The present invention is particularly suited to an electronic ordering and tracking system. Passenger vehicle operators can electronically place an order for products with the caterer. The order can simply identify the number of passengers but can additionally identify special dietary requirements e.g. vegetarian. The order can either be placed directly with the hub distribution centre or it can be placed with a spoke distribution centre. The benefit of placing the order with the spoke distribution centre is that the spoke distribution centre can modify the order to take into account local factors. The hub distribution centre will collate orders placed with the spoke distribution centres and will place an electronic order with the manufacturing centre for a bulk delivery of products in the carriers. If the order for the products is not placed directly with the spoke distribution centres, the hub distribution centre will send electronic data on the number of products required for respective vehicles to the spoke distribution centres. The spoke distribution centre will then determine the number of containers required to enable them to tailor the order for each respective vehicle.
In order to provide for accurate tracking of products, in an embodiment of the present invention the carriers each include a unique electronic tag. At points in the distribution the tags are detected and a computer system receives the detections to track the location and keep a history for each carrier. Thus each carrier of products can be tracked from the manufacturing centre to the vehicle. Further, the bulk delivery of carriers from the manufacturing centre can be provided in one or more bulk carriers which each include an electronic tag. Thus when the bulk delivery is made to the hub distribution centre, the tag of the bulk carrier can be detected instead of having to detect all of the tags of the carriers in the bulk carrier. At the manufacturing centre when the bulk carrier is loaded with carriers, the tags for the bulk carriers can be read and the computer system can store information identifying the identities of the carriers loaded into the bulk carriers. Thus at the hub distribution centre, it is simply necessary to detect the tag of the bulk carrier in order to identify the carriers delivered.
In one embodiment, the carriers each include a temperature detector for detecting ambient temperature and for warning if the detected temperature moves outside predetermined range or threshold. This feature can thus provide for the individual monitoring of carriers to determine their compliance with hygiene regulations. The temperature detector can comprise an electronic detector which can transmit information to the computer system for remote monitoring. Alternatively, the temperature detector can simply comprise a visible indicator to indicate if the ambient temperature for a carrier has moved outside a predetermined range or threshold.
A second aspect of the present invention provides a method of delivering meals to passenger carrying vehicles in which, at a distribution centre, packaged items are received from food preparing stations. The packaged items are assembled on a tray from a meal unit and the meal units are loaded into trolleys. The trolley are then distributed to the vehicles for serving to passengers.
Thus this aspect of the present invention enables a distribution centre to be quite separate to food preparing stations. There is no need for example for an airline caterer to have food preparing facilities. The caterer can simply assemble preprepared food for delivery to the aircraft. The food preparing station can comprise restaurants because of the careful tracking and control procedures, restaurant food can be provided. To complete the restaurant quality food delivered to the passengers, a chef can carry out final preparations on each meal on the vehicle or at the spoke distribution centre.